Club Logo/Pin Ideas?

Bob Neaus took the initiative and came up with a couple nice ideas for a club logo. Feel free to comment or be inspired to provide alternatives that can be added to the post.

Join us - We will keep you posted.

If you are "interested in curling", fill out the form below and we will let you know directly when we have an Open House, Learn to Curl and League Play. (All information provided will be kept private and for club use only. You can unsubscribe at anytime)

Starting up a Club

Hey, I wanted know if there's anything I can do to help get the STL Curling club rolling sooner. Thanks and feel free to contact me.
-Nick
Thanks Nick, At this point, it would be good to establish a local board of directors, writes some by-laws then start with a list of tasks like below.

• Identify rinks in the area willing to offer good ice time between September and April, Place curling marking on the rinks and provide area so both store and chill equipment along with the willingness to maintain as level a rink as possible for a hockey rink


• Identify source to purchase equipment to help establish a budget


• Identify fundraising sources and volunteer helpers


• Employ marketing strategies to raise awareness of the club and its website


• Create a logo that people will identify as the St. Louis Curling Club

These are a few thing but would be a great start before holding an Open House and have the people in place to startup a club. I have several By-Laws available from other clubs. Who is willing to serve on the board?

Creating Professional Curling Ice

Time Lapsed to show how a hockey rink is converted over to professional quality curing ice.

Arena Club have abbreviated mean to make ice playable for recreation purposed that while not "perfect" still require skill and keep observation.

What is Curling?

Seattle's Junior Curler explain what curling is about better than most adults I play with. Well..... at least they have the right attitude.

Check them out.

A call out to Experienced Curlers

Once again, I put the call out to the experienced curlers living in St. Louis.

I know your hiding. The Kansas City Curling Club has at least 100 who have stop by our own club to say hello and participate but I still have yet to find but a handful or two who have left a comment to a post or signed up using the form.

You are the future of this club. The teachers, the skips, directing and inspiring the nearly 60 individuals new to the sport who have expressed an interest in curling.

If you know that person who has played in the past, let them know about this webpage. If you are that person, Shout out a comment below, tell us where you played and are you willing to help make this a reality.

Open House

Over the next month or two, Curling Clubs here in North America will be conducting Open Houses at their local clubs to kick off their curling seasons.

In Kansas City, their Open House is Oct. 5th, 11:30a-2:00p. This is chance to meet the membership, try the sport, and enjoy the social atmosphere. Check out the details at http://www.kccurling.com/main/OpenHouse.asp

Look for a club in your area by checking this Link for Clubs in the United States.

St. Louis Curling Interest

Interest is curling in St. Louis has risen over the last year compared to previous years when I set up this blog. At this rate. I can see an Open House sometime Next Summer if we can exceed 150 individuals wanting to try the sport.

Kansas City s 5 Annual Bonspiel - April 25-27th - Come Watch or Play.

Slideshow of last years bonspiel.

Flash Slideshow

In three weeks, teams and individual curlers from Columbus (OH), St. Paul (MN), Omaha (NE), Chicago (IL), Austin (TX), Cedar Rapids, (IA) will travel to KC to compete in this FUN, Open (Either Gender or Age) Spiel. (No one from St. Louis Yet)

To show you don't have to be experienced to play in a spiel, last year, there were 2 teams made up of 2 experience curlers and 2 new curlers from Champaign, IL. One team made the finals of the 2nd event and won. The new curlers had truly never curled before, so their first time on the ice was their first curling experience. They arrived 2 hours before their match so they could learn the technique and where off and playing.

For those who may want to stop in and watch, The spiel start Friday night with the first draw at 7:00pm, 9:00pm, or 11:00pm. Games continue throughout Saturday with each team playing at least 3 matches and the winning teams will continue to play on Sunday with the final matches from 11:00am-1:00pm

Individuals as well as teams are welcome to sign up.
Details about the spiel and Signup can be seen by clicking here.

St. Louis Blues go curling in Vancouver

The Blues find curling is a little tougher than it looks as they "gracefully" slide on a different type of ice with no skates.

How they make curling stones

Check out how stones are created

Hollywood Curling

What person doesn't dream of Hollywood. Now you can see Hollywood dreaming of Curling as they take to the ice for the first time.

If you make it out to the west coast, check out their club and seeing if you can curl through their website at http://www.hollywoodcurling.org/

Starting a Curling Club

This year alone I have been contacted by 3 people interested in starting curling clubs in their own communities of Cincinnati, Ohio; Kalamazoo, Michigan and Bozeman Montana.

The trifecta to getting this started is

1. Members - The more people you have the more you can better cover you costs for Ice, equipment, insurance, etc. The same people you will need to rely on to help run the club.
   
2. Equipment - it will likely cost around $2000 or more for all the equipment needed per curling sheet. The USCA has a rock program that offers you a payment plan for new equipment or you can search for used rock at much less cost. The size of the rink, Cost for the ice will dictate how many sheets you will need to succeed.
3. Ice Rink - Without it a facility willing to work with curling's unique requirements, there is no point in doing the first two. You need a place willing to pre-chill your rocks, maintain the rink to maximize good curling conditions, hopefully put in permanent markings, allow a little extra time prior to curling to prep, and most importantly have the patience to let the club grow at a time that people are willing to curl.

Of the three, Cinninati (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/cinci-curling/) has taken the first step in creating a free website using yahoo groups for people to show their support and interest. Even this site is free if you prefer a blog format. Hopefully we will see the other two and more clubs possibly in your own community not far behind.

Helpful Resource to Bookmark:

• Arena Curling: Community forum for Arena Curling issues. (http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/arena_curling/?m=0)
• USCA Arena Curling: Useful info on Arena Curling put out by the United States Curling Association: http://www.usacurl.org/goodcurling//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=44&Itemid=39
• Starting an Arena Curling Club By: Ryan Nankivel http://www.usacurl.org/goodcurling//images/MemberServices/startingaclub.arena.pdf

Traveling to play or learning to curl

To see a map of all clubs surrounding St. Louis Click Here.

As far as finding a place to curl, St. Louis is somewhat in a blackhole for now, equally distant from 5 separate curling active clubs. But a day trip, overnight stay or weekend run is very doable if planned ahead. Here is a quick rundown of possible curling ventures you can make.

1. Waltham is the closest club (under 4 hours) straight up I-55/I-39 near Mendota. They have dedicated ice simply for curling so they curl all week long if you want to contact their club. On their schedule, they have an Open House on December 1st and 2nd or if you have a small group you can Rent and Curl December through March most Friday evenings and Saturday afternoons at a reasonable rate.
2. Kansas City is just over 4 hours by car straight out I-70/I-435. They curl on Sunday's from now to April starting at 10:45am and 12:15pm and finish up at 2:00pm. They offer a $15 Learn to Curl. $10 per curler for groups of 2-14 at either time. Signup and Details.
3. Indianapolis is right around 4 hours as well straight out I-70. Their league play is offered on Monday and Wednesday Night from 7-9 but they currently have a few learning Clinics on Saturdays. The next one is on Nov. 17th
4. Kankakee is again about 4 hours by car out I-70/I-57. They have a Learn to Curl on Sunday at 6:50pm -8:50pm. Registration Required.
5. Springdale is about 5.5 hour down I-44. They currently don't have any listing for curling programs.
6. Nashville website is down and I have heard they might fold. But don't let that keep you from trying to reach them is you want to drive southeast.
   

Arena Curling

Unlike rinks dedicated to curling, clubs that play on ice built for ice skating have unique challenges to overcome to help make a viable curling club. The United States Curling Association's Arena Curling Committee has started a forum to help arena clubs talk to each other and see what works and what doesn't.

If you have a question or simply want to learn more go to USCA Arena Curling Forum

Summer curling - a missed opportunity.

For the most part, Summer is the time people forget about curling. Dedicated curling rinks generally close down for the summer. For an Arena clubs, Clubs curling on Hockey/Skating ice, this is a resource each club should not overlook. Ice time is easy to get since many rinks today are year round and need to fill the time rather than take out the ice and the times to curl at are better than what you might get during the winter months.

I was hoping interest in St. Louis would spur us to put on an Open House this summer so we can give St. Louis residents the opportunity to see what it feels like to slide a 42lb granite stone. But so far we haven't reached a critical mass or core group to help run the club to inspire us to bring our stones across the state. At this time, we will wait possibly another season. If you want to curl in St. Louis, fill the form to the left, leave a comment to this post, and or put yourself on the map so we know there is true interest and more importantly spread the word.

Here in KC, we have started to offer short 5 week Beginner Curling Classes and will start our second session July 10th. This offering has been a terrific success in getting new people out to try curling. They like the low pressure setting, short duration, and lower cost . In years past, we had been unable to fill a program but since the Last Olympics, getting a minimum number has been less of a challenge and many of these converts see what fun this sport is and have already expressed a willingness to continue their fun into our traditional winter season.

High Altitude Bonspiel

This Memorial Day Weekend, 4 of us from the Kansas City Curling Club formed a team and went to Colorado Springs CO to compete in the 2nd Annual High Altitude Bonspiel at the Broadmoor Curling Club.

16 team competed including a team from as far away as Cape Cod. They also had a team of curlers who helped start a club at the University of Denver and with less than one years worth of experience won the entire event as well as went to the College Nationals and Medaled there. You never know who will possess the natural talent to be a good curler.

There was another team of 6 that recently took their Learn to Curl class and made the bonspiel their first curling experience. They were filming the event and plan to make a documentary about 1000 days to the Winter Olympic Games.

In general the ice was a heavier than normal but this was their first time at this location and are working on plans to speed up the ice for next year but Overall it was a nicely run event, the weather and location were great and they plan to expand this event to 24 teams next Memorial Day weekend. It you think this is for you, I would recommend extending the weekend and take in the sites, there is much to do and see outside the event.

On the Horizon: At the event, it was told that the Denver Curling Club will restart curling in the fall.

Bonspiel - Barbecue Open April 27-29th

A Bonspiel is a competition between Curling Clubs. In Kansas City , they will be hosting their 4th Annual Bonspiel with 10 teams from cities such as Des Moines, Omaha, St. Paul, Seattle, Columbus, Phoenix and Champaign, Chicago and Waltham, IL and 18 team overall.

No players from St. Louis. I beginning to wonder if the St. Louis area is a curling void, since I have yet to hear from any experienced curlers.

As one becomes a curler, they can travel to these bonspiel in other cities and compete for fun or money nearly any weekend during the winter months or some weekends during the summer.

If you are around KC the weekend of April 27-29th. Stop in and say hello.

Details: http://www.kccurling.com/main/Bonspiel.asp

Equipment - The Final Piece to starting a club

The Trilogy to starting a curling club is a follows: Membership is the first key ( Which is the main intent of this website to generate that interest). Secondly, we need a Ice Rink willing to support playing. Finally, we need to have the money or loan in place to buy the equipment necessary to play.

A Club typically buys all the basic equipment necessary for any individual wanting to try.

A individual curler needs a slider and a broom but the overall club will need hacks, pebblers, scoreboards, benches, measure device, nipper or pebble crusher, not to mention the all important stones. Total cost per sheet can be anywhere from $2000-$5000 per sheet. And you will probably need 3-5 sheets worth to get started. This can be paid through membership or fundraising (adopt-a-rock programs).

The Kansas City Curling Club started with 3 sheets of equipment bought with funds from the original club and generous donations from individuals and companies. For $250, a name was inscribed on a stone handle to announce their generous contribution. Then after our first season, we used revenue generated the first year to purchase a 4th sheet of equipment. Much of our equipment had previous owners and we continue to update as we grow the club.

Experienced Curlers Needed

Every club needs experienced curlers to make a curling club work. Mainly, they are the individual who help new curlers learn the sport and provide the wisdom to any potential curler willing to serve on the board and help run the club.

Since creating this site over 3 months ago, We are finally starting to see a nice steady stream of activity including 15 people have taken the poll, more then 10 people have added their contact info to the form on the left , and 5 people have added their St. Louis Pin Locating themselves to the Map themselves. Most has occured in the last month or so. However, all those who have responded are people new to curling.

I have yet to get an Experience Curler to contact me. In Kansas City alone, there are over 100 experienced curlers who have contact our club whether they have played with us or not. Certainly St. Louis should have more than that. If you are one, Leave a comment about your past curling experience below. Where did you curl, how long ago, and did you enjoy it? If you want to Volunteer to help get this club going faster Let that be know as well.